LLapp on 2016-11-08 11:38:01
Brings to mind the famous "eating scene" from the movie version of his novel "Tom Jones."

susanith on 2017-07-18 10:21:30
Do you think he saw that scene?

LLapp on 2017-08-12 13:29:28
Well, no, but I always assumed the scene in the film was faithful to Fielding's narrative. I just now scanned through the text (posted for free, here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6593/...m#link2HCH0048), and it seems that scene is described only implicitly and only by polite suggestion, in Book IX, Chapter V.

WhiteEagle on 2017-09-25 11:06:59
327 s., but I was distracted by some delicious chocolate chip cookies and milk

One of the longest comment threads I've seen on this site, and so civilized!!

"It's just as much of a stretch to be an atheist as it is to believe in God, because there's no explanation for how the planet got here." — Bill O'Reilly

matarisa on 2011-04-10 20:17:32
I find it easier to believe in God than to believe it's all just a mindless accident.

kokumo on 2011-12-09 00:23:38
Evolution isn't "mindless," it's directional. We evolve to pressures of our environment. Life is so beautifully and wonderfully variable that almost anything is possible. Science can be just as beautiful and meaningful as God. It's all the same thing; it's just what you name it.

WRQ9 on 2012-04-10 19:36:59
The fact that there are two arguments doesn't mean that one is any more correct than the other. Belief only guides our experiential path, the truth is unaffected, and undecided.

chopstix on 2012-08-31 04:21:29
Matarisa - "easier" is the operative word in your statement.... and as far as "mindless", the human mind is a product of evolution, but I'm sure you would disagree... Kokumo - I pretty much agree, it's all the same thing: it's just what you name it, thank you.

puzzleme on 2013-06-06 06:02:51
Science and religious faith are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The Biblical word "day" is translated from the original "period of time". If one believes in Creationism, one still does not know how that creation came about or how long it took. If God exists, God may have "created" everything according to the laws of nature, physics, evolution, etc.

nevadasmith68 on 2013-08-03 21:08:07
Two statements: 1. God created the world 2. O'Reilly is a bloviating clown

unicorn64 on 2013-08-28 19:32:09
I agree with puzzleme. Science and spirituality can work together. God created the universe with the science that we are now learning just a little piece of. It certainly wasn't all mindless. the universe is too complex to just be an accident.

abra on 2014-06-12 14:36:05
Everyone who believes in God, does not believe the Earth was created in six 24 hour days. I don't have any statistics, but I'd be happy to make some up . Just from the believers that I know, very few people think that. My own personal opinion is that God created the Earth. The details aren't that important to me. I think it's likely we evolved from apes, but either way, it doesn't shake my faith.

kb83 on 2014-11-03 09:05:16
Apes are beautiful.

LLapp on 2015-06-13 07:04:26
The process of slow, methodical discovery that science affords has slowly and methodically revealed an order that may or may not be due to a benevolent force at its origin. What is interesting is the human need to know for sure, and even fight for, a concept of origin that is clearly unknowable. You can't really know what is not knowable. Believe all you want -- whatever works for you -- but please don't call it fact, and please keep it to yourself. Morality does not require an external executive force.

abra on 2015-12-06 09:48:34
So, if you believe, you should keep that to yourself, but if you don't, you can feel free to speak your mind? I don't think that science is just another name for God. Science is there, the facts are there, I don't dispute that, but facts and science arenot God. I believe he's there too.

marnita on 2015-12-06 19:00:26
I think what LLapp is saying is that there is no point in arguing about it. Scientific explanations are not going to convince a religious person not to believe in God, and faith-based arguments are not going to convince a nonbeliever to believe.

killdozer on 2016-04-10 19:08:06
Evolution is a fact, not an opinion, full stop. evolution has nothing to do with the ORIGIN of life, tough or the origin of the universe or the existence of God. Evolution is only how life changes and diverges, not how it began. The planets got here by way of matter precipitating out of stars. Gravity did the rest. it's not a mystery and even it was a mystery that does not mean that a sky god must have done it. Bill O'Reilly is a moron who thinks that just because he personally doesn't know something (like what causes the tides) that nobody else knows either and it must be GAWD. He's an idiot. He's also a sex offender and a wife beater who lost custody of his kids because he dragged their mother down the stairs by her hair. Those facts are not especially relevant, but I think everyone should know what a jerk this guy is.

momn8r on 2016-06-26 17:22:45
Man! I'm getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from scrolling through all these comments!

oddcouple on 2016-07-04 18:04:10
I just can't believe in atheism.

montyb on 2016-07-10 15:45:19
I cannot resist the need to clear up a common misconception back in kokumo's comment. The term "directional" implies a specific goal or destination. Evolution is not directional; it has neither a goal or specific progression. It would be better to say that evolution is selective. Random mutations occur all the time and nature selects those mutations that benefit a population for transmission through future generations.

badbob on 2016-07-29 20:24:41
God created everything evolution is hooey Darwin was a fuddy-duddy nutbag and when Jesus returns (and He will) He will explain it all to you non-believers

abra on 2016-08-27 10:08:20
Back to the quote, I really don't like O'Reilly, I think he has a really unpleasant personality, but in this case, I'd say he's right on. I think what he says is true, It will make your head hurt if you think about it.

maradnu on 2016-10-03 14:30:11
Physics explains the existence of the world, and biology, through evolution explains the existence of the creatures here. One need not reject science to think there might be some higher power, which some may refer to as G-d. We cannot explain why the physics of this universe are as they are.

LLapp on 2016-12-01 16:46:12
abra, what I meant is close to what marnita said I meant. I should have been more specific -- I don't even think that people should keep their beliefs to themselves. In fact I think it's wonderful when people feel free to express their beliefs, and others listen and really hear them. What I meant (but didn't say well) is that there is no point in trying to persuade others that your own theology is factual or should be accepted as the only correct theology. Sharing religious belief is one thing; proselytizing about it is what gets my goat.

mikehallbackhoe on 2016-12-29 14:05:45
so, if I proselytize, you will give me your goat?

LLapp on 2017-01-02 11:35:48
Sure!

bkmcincinnati on 2017-02-21 06:50:50
This is in response to Bill O'Reilly, not the interesting discussion going on in the comments. Bill seems to overlook that atheists are, for the most part, comfortable with not knowing the answers to all things that science is still exploring. It's not a stretch to say we just don't know everything about our universe (and yes, I understand that people can and do believe God had a hand in it all and whether that feels like a stretch is for those believers to decide, not me). All I'm saying is I'm not stretched.

NotTooOld on 2017-05-20 23:32:53
I think this may be the longest string of comments that I have come across. Different opinions but (for the most part) politely expressed. Appreciate it.